Patient Safety in a Healthcare Setting and Falls Risks Falls are a common event that occurs every day in the healthcare setting. First, they can be prevented by a little education and background. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015) reviewed that more than 10,000 Americans turn 65 in a year, and that same year every 13 seconds the Emergency Department treats fall related injuries and claim a life every 20 minutes. Falls are becoming one of the most common injuries in the healthcare field. 1 out of 3 adults fall every year, and only half inform their healthcare professional. With preparation and education on fall prevention, patients and healthcare workers are more understanding and educated on what rules to follow when the time
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FSI investigates fall risk scenes and provides a proactive approach to help fall prevention. According to Boothe and Harris (2010), The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have labeled hospital-acquired falls as “never events” – preventable incidents that should never occur in a clinical care setting. It is now a law that hospitals can’t charge the patient for a fall because these are addressed as “never events”. The FSI’s job is to examine and review the fall that’s occurred, and implement new ways to prevent future falls. In order for this to become a success, the care team, family, and client all must apply the same rules of fall prevention. A few questions that should be addressed when performing a fall scene investigation: What’s the diagnosis of the patient? What medications are involved? What was the patient doing that caused the fall? Could other prevention strategies have been implemented? What lessons were learned? Because of the FSI team, nurses are now becoming more aware and fast acting towards fall risks and safety hazards. There …show more content…
In Goldsack et al. (2015), successful programs typically include combinations of strong leadership and support, a culture of safety, front-line staff who are engaged in program design, a multidisciplinary team that guides the prevention program, staff education and training, and changes in pessimistic attitudes toward fall prevention. Implementing an hourly rounding program helps improve the safety and care of the patient. This program can help build safety and with the right education and training, the nursing staff will be able to perform this task. In one year, the average falls per 1,000 patients was 3.9 falls/1,000 patients. After the hourly rounding program was performed the next year, the fall rate decreased to 2.5 falls/1,000 patients. In order for the hourly rounding to be successful, every 2 weeks the staff should have a meeting to discuss factors related to the program such as pros and cons. Another purpose for hourly rounding that has shown to be very effective is reducing call bells. If you’re rounding hourly, the patient’s will have a chance to ask any questions they might have, receive any food or drink needed, bathe, and any other activities of daily living that need to be met. Hourly rounding can also help ensure pain assessment, scheduled toileting, and positioning will be achieved. The education and performance of this program can help decrease the rate
FSI investigates fall risk scenes and provides a proactive approach to help fall prevention. According to Boothe and Harris (2010), The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have labeled hospital-acquired falls as “never events” – preventable incidents that should never occur in a clinical care setting. It is now a law that hospitals can’t charge the patient for a fall because these are addressed as “never events”. The FSI’s job is to examine and review the fall that’s occurred, and implement new ways to prevent future falls. In order for this to become a success, the care team, family, and client all must apply the same rules of fall prevention. A few questions that should be addressed when performing a fall scene investigation: What’s the diagnosis of the patient? What medications are involved? What was the patient doing that caused the fall? Could other prevention strategies have been implemented? What lessons were learned? Because of the FSI team, nurses are now becoming more aware and fast acting towards fall risks and safety hazards. There …show more content…
In Goldsack et al. (2015), successful programs typically include combinations of strong leadership and support, a culture of safety, front-line staff who are engaged in program design, a multidisciplinary team that guides the prevention program, staff education and training, and changes in pessimistic attitudes toward fall prevention. Implementing an hourly rounding program helps improve the safety and care of the patient. This program can help build safety and with the right education and training, the nursing staff will be able to perform this task. In one year, the average falls per 1,000 patients was 3.9 falls/1,000 patients. After the hourly rounding program was performed the next year, the fall rate decreased to 2.5 falls/1,000 patients. In order for the hourly rounding to be successful, every 2 weeks the staff should have a meeting to discuss factors related to the program such as pros and cons. Another purpose for hourly rounding that has shown to be very effective is reducing call bells. If you’re rounding hourly, the patient’s will have a chance to ask any questions they might have, receive any food or drink needed, bathe, and any other activities of daily living that need to be met. Hourly rounding can also help ensure pain assessment, scheduled toileting, and positioning will be achieved. The education and performance of this program can help decrease the rate